•I 


DAMON 
A  Sermon. 


REV.  DAVID  DAMON'S 


ELECTION    SERMON 


1841. 


SERMON 

DELIVERED   BEFORE 

HIS  EXCELLENCY  MARCUS  MORTON, 

GOVERNOR, 

HIS  HONOR  GEORGE  HULL, 

LIEUTENANT    GOVERNOR, 

THE  HONORABLE  COUNCIL, 

AND 

THE   LEGISLATURE   OF  MASSACHUSETTS, 

AT 

THE   ANNUAL    ELECTION, 

JANUARY   6,    1841. 


BY    DAVID    DAMON, 
•  'i 

Pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  West  Cambridge. 


Boston: 

DUTTOH   AND    WENTWORTH,   PRINTERS   TO    THE   STATE. 

1841. 


•        •* 

\ 


(TommontocaltJ)  of  ftfassacjmsetts. 


IN  SENATE,  JAK.  8,  1841 

Ordered,  That  Messrs.  RICHARDSON  and  LAWRENCE  be  a  Committee  to  wait  on  tho 
RET.  I)*  VID  DAMON,  and  present  him  the  thanks  of  the  Senate  Tor  his  Sermon  delivered 
before  the  Government  of  the  Commonwealth  on  Wednesday,  and  request  a  copy  thereof 
for  the  press. 

Attest  :— 

CHARLES  CALHOUN,  Clerk. 


SERMON. 


Galalians,  v.  13. 

FOR,  BRETHREN,  YE  HAVE  BEEN  CALLED  TJNTO  LIBERTY  ;  ONLY 
USE  NOT  LIBERTY  FOR  AN  OCCASION  TO  THE  FLESH,  BUT  BY 
LOVE  SERVE  ONE  ANOTHER. 

THE  returns  of  such  anniversaries  as  this  are 
proud  days  to  Americans.  There  comes  up  hither 
the  sovereignty,  not  of  king,  courtiers  and  lords,  not 
of  titled  nobility  and  hereditary  aristocracy,  nor  of 
any  aristocracy,  not  the  sovereignty  invested  in,  or 
usurped  by,  a  few  ;  but  the  sovereignty  of  the  whole 
people,  manifested  in  their  assembled  representatives, 
who  are  both  of  themselves  and  chosen  by  them- 
selves. We  feel  that  our  government  is  not  an  arbi- 
trary imposition  to  be  evaded  when  it  can  be,  to  be 
borne  as  a  heavy  burden  when  it  cannot  be  evaded, 
and  to  be  dreaded  and  hated  always ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  a  combination  of  privileges,  a  guarantee  of 
inalienable  right,  an  instrument  of  promoting  the 
well-being  and  progress  of  man,  both  in  his  individ- 


ual  and  social  capacity.  We  feel  it  not  as  govern- 
ment, in  the  prescriptive  acceptation  of  that  term, 
except  when  we  do  what  conscience  and  religion,  as 
well  as  law  and  constitution,  testify  is  wrong ;  or 
when,  on  the  other  hand,  we  are  kept  by  it  from 
some  threatened  injury,  or  redressed  if  the  injury  has 
been  actually  inflicted.  We  feel  that  we  are,  indeed, 
called  to  liberty,  political,  social  and  religious,  that 
we  have  equality  as  well  as  liberty  —  equality  of 
right,  equality  of  liberty,  and  social  equality  also  ;  or 
if  not  precise  social  equality,  as  rapid  and  near  an 
approximation  to  it,  as  is  consistent  with  obtaining  it 
finally,  and  keeping  it  when  obtained. 

We  look  back  also  to  the  small  period  of  time, 
(very  small,  as  compared  with  the  age  of  the  world 
and  the  tardy  growth  of  other  nations,)  in  which, 
from  a  few  small  and  scattered  bands  of  voluntary 
exiles,  we  have  become  a  great  people,  ourselves, 
many  of  us,  the  descendants  of  those  brave,  adven- 
turous, liberty-loving,  God-fearing  men.  Still  more 
of  us  are  the  immediate  descendants  of  others,  who 
sealed  with  their  blood,  in  the  villages  we  inhabit 
and  on  the  heights  with  which  we  are  immediately 
surrounded,  our  political  independence  ;  and,  in  so 
doing,  gave  an  impulse  to  our  growth  and  prosperity 
as  a  people,  which,  even  with  their  expanded  and 


aspiring  views,  they  as  little  dreamed  of,  as  Colum- 
bus did  of  the  vast  extent  of  this  new  world,  when 
he  first  discovered  it.     Reasoning  from  the  past  and 
present  to  the  future,  we  scarcely  know  how  to  place 
bounds  to  our  anticipations  of  increase,  in  numbers, 
and  wealth,  and  power,  and  glory  among  the  nations. 
Have  not  the  older  part  of  us  seen,  in  very  little 
more  than  half  a  century,  a  small  portion  of  the 
great  western  wilderness  become  the  third  state  in 
the  Union,  with  a  population  of  nearly  two  millions  ? 
What  then  may  not  the  child  which  is  born  to-day 
live  to  see,  even  beyond  our  fondest  and  most  extrav- 
gant  imaginings  ?     With  such  recollections  and  an- 
ticipations concerning  our  commonwealth  and  coun- 
try as  we  must  have  sometimes,  and  assembling,  as 
we  do,  on  these   anniversaries,  in  the  city  where 
American   independence   was   born   and    its  cradle 
rocked,  it  must  be  more  or  less  than  human  nature, 
which   can   still   every  stirring  of  pride  within  the 
breast,  and  feel  only  as  dependent  and  sinful  beings 
should  feel  in  the  presence  of  the  Ruler  and  Judge 
of  all  the  earth. 

But  full  scope  has  been  given,  even  on  occasions 
as  solemn  as  this,  to  the  boastful  reminiscences  and 
lofty  anticipations,  to  which  I  have  referred.  Our 
literature,  our  national  manners  even,  are  infected 


with  this  over-weening  spirit  concerning  what  we 
are  and  what  we  are  about  to  be — as  if  we  deserved 
it  all,  and  it  all  must  come  to  us  of  course,  because, 
forsooth,  we  are  the  only  true  republicans  and  true 
liberty  men  on  the  face  of  the  earth  —  as  if,  the  bat- 
tles of  independence  being  fought  and  won,  and  our 
national  and  state  constitutions  being  framed  and  put 
on  parchment,  the  fame  of  the  former  and  some  in- 
trinsic magic  force  in  the  latter  must  needs  keep  safe 
both  us  and  our  liberties.  While  our  numbers  and 
wealth  are  increasing  and  extending  themselves  over 
the  length  and  breadth  of  a  vast  continent,  we  rest 
assured  that  all  is  safe  and  on  the  march  towards 
perfection,  which  our  fathers  achieved  and  gained ; 
forgetting  that  it  was  not  by  numbers  nor  by  wealth 
that  they  did  so,  for  they  were  both  few  and  poor, 
but  by  union,  by  patriotism,  by  self-sacrifice,  and  by 
a  deep-felt  religious  trust  in  the  living  God,  who  up- 
holds the  right  and  condemns  the  wrong. 

Well  would  it  become  us,  then,  on  these  occasions, 
to  look  to  our  duties  and  our  dangers,  and  not  wholly 
to  our  past  achievements  and  our  hopes,  perhaps  de- 
lusive hopes,  of  future  greatness  —  and  this  is  what 
I  purpose  to  do  at  the  present  time. 

A  consideration  of  our  duties  involves  all  which 
need  be  said  of  our  dangers'.  I  shall,  therefore, 


speak,  in  form,  only  to  the  first  named  topic,  our 
duties,  the  duties  of  the  free  inhabitants  of  a  free 
state  —  called  to  liberty,  every  kind  of  liberty  which 
a  man  need  have,  or  can  have  consistently  with  his 
own  good,  every  kind  of  liberty,  except  the  liberty 
to  do  wrong  and  trample  upon  the  rights  and  happi- 
ness of  others. 

1 .  The  first  duty  to  be  mentioned,  that  which  vir- 
tually includes  all  the  rest,  is  expressed  in  the  text 
itself.  "  Only  use  not  liberty  for  an  occasion  to  the 
flesh,  but  by  love  serve  one  another."  I  do  not  sup- 
pose the  Apostle  had  direct  reference  to  any  other 
than  religious  liberty.  But  Christianity  includes  and 
tends  to  produce  all  the  liberty  which  man  should 
claim  or  can  enjoy.  It  is  conceded  that  not  a  word 
is  expressly  said,  in  the  New  Testament,  concerning 
civil  or  political  freedom  —  not  a  word  concerning  the 
duty  or  the  lawfulness  of  rebelling  against  tyrants 
and  overturning  despotisms,  and  establishing  upon 
their  ruins  governments  which  should  acknowledge 
and  guarantee  equal  rights  to  the  mass  of  the  peo- 
ple. On  the  contrary,  the  Saviour  even  gives  direc- 
tions "  to  render  unto  Caesar  the  things  which  are 
Caesar's."  But  it  is  none  the  less  certain  that  Chris- 
tianity was  intended  as  well  as  adapted  to  work  its 
way  gradually  and  noiselessly  into  human  govern- 
2 


10 


ments  and  modify  and  change  their  influences,  by 
first  enlightening  the  minds  and  renovating  the  hearts 
of  individuals  ;  till  the  leaven  of  true  liberty  should 
pervade  the  whole  mass  of  human  society  and  com- 
prehend all  the  relations  of  man  to  man.  It  is  none 
the  less  certain,  that  in  proportion  as  the  true  spirit 
of  Christianity  prevails,  true  liberty  prevails  also  — 
that  true  Christianity  is  true  democracy,  though  pro- 
fessed democracy  may  often  be  far  enough  from  true 
Christianity  —  and  that  the  sentiment  that  man  equals 
and  measures  man  the  world  over,  is  as  much  at  the 
foundation  of  Christianity  as  if  it  had  been  expres- 
sed in  the  very  words  by  the  author  of  Christianity 
himself. 

I  pervert  not,  then,  but  only  follow  out  the  true 
application  of  the  text,  when  I  say  to  the  free  peo- 
ple of  this  free  country  —  "  Only  use  not  liberty  for 
an  occasion  to  the  flesh,  but  by  love  serve  one  an- 
other." Use  not  liberty  for  any  malignant,  impure 
or  merely  selfish  purpose  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  serve 
one  another.  Serve  the  individual,  because  he  needs 
it ;  and  the  whole  community,  when  you  can,  be- 
cause the  wants  of  the  community  are  the  aggregate 
of  the  wants  of  the  individuals  in  the  community. 
Serve  both,  because  your  service,  by  God's  appoint- 
ment, is  their  due.  Serve  them,  not  because  in  so 


11 


doing  you  can  perhaps  serve  yourself  more,  but  by 
love  serve  them,  that  is,  from  a  principle  of  benevo- 
lence, as  the  Son  of  God  became  a  self-sacrifice  that 
he  might  save  mankind.  "  Look  not  every  man  on 
his  own  things,  but  every  man  also  on  the  things  of 
others."  "  As  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you, 
do  ye  also  to  them  likewise." 

It  is  this  duty  of  service  and  benevolence,  mutual 
service  prompted  by  mutual  love,  and  aiming  at  the 
well-being  of  each  and  of  all,  which  should  be  first 
and  principally  felt  as  binding  upon  every  heart,  and 
be  carried  out  in  the  actions  of  the  life  of  every  one 
in  a  free  community.  It  is  nothing  short  of  this  fun- 
damental principle  of  our  religion,  pervading  the 
hearts  of  the  mass  of  our  people  which  can  give  to 
our  republican  liberty,  that  stability  and  that  steady 
progress  towards  entire  perfection  which  we  all  pro- 
fess to  covet.  There  must  be  Christian  light  and 
love.  It  is  not  such  liberty  as  the  ancient  republics 
had,  it  is  not  the  liberty  of  Greeks  or  Romans,  which 
we  want  or  will  deign  to  accept.  We  must  continue 
to  have  more  and  better.  It  is  the  liberty,  the  broad 
basis  of  which  is  furnished  by  Christianity  in  its  in- 
terior and  vital  influences,  which  we  must  have  or 
have  none. 

How  important,  then,  that  the  whole  community, 


12 


and  every  individual  in  particular  who  aspires  to  any 
place  of  trust  or  influence  in  the  community,  should 
be  moved  by  the  spirit  and  governed  by  the  precepts 
of  the  religion  which  we  believe  we  have  received 
from  Heaven  —  how  important  to  the  well-being  of 
society,  the  conservation  of  true  liberty,  the  progress 
of  social  enjoyment,  refinement  and  elevation,  as 
well  as  to  the  salvation  of  the  individual  soul.  How 
indelibly  the  sentiment  should  be  inwrought  in  the 
hearts  of  all  who  are  deputed  to  aid  in  making  or 
executing  the  laws  in  a  free  country,  that  they  should 
pursue  the  labor  assigned  to  them,  determined  to  do 
their  duty,  to  take  care  of  the  real  interests  of  their 
constituents,  and  serve  their  whole  country,  without 
respect  to  party  claims  or  dictation,  and  especially 
without  respect  to  the  question  of  their  own  re-elec- 
tion. That  is  a  question  which  it  belongs  wholly  to 
their  constituents  to  decide  ;  an  affair  in  which  they 
have  no  business  to  intermeddle,  unless  in  necessary 
self-defence  of  character. 

What  said  the  great  teacher  in  relation  to  the  sub- 
ject now  before  us  ?  "  Whosoever  will  be  great 
among  you,  let  him  be  your  minister,  and  whosoever 
will  be  chief  among  you,  let  him  be  your  servant : 
even  as  the  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered 
unto  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom 


13 


for  many."  Was  this  said  solely  for  the  direction  of 
those  to  whom  it  was  originally  spoken,  and  restrict- 
ed to  their  action  in  the  capacity  of  evangelists  ?  Is 
it  to  be  applied  only  to  the  concerns  of  religion  in 
the  restricted  and  technical  sense  in  which  that 
Heavenly  but  much  abused  word  is  now  often  used  ? 
Or  did  the  Saviour  so  intend  and  so  speak  it,  that  it 
might  be  applied  by  all  his  followers  in  all  the  rela- 
tions and  conduct  of  life  ?  Evidently  this  which  is 
last  named.  He  speaks,  in  few  words,  in  the  pas- 
sage quoted,  his  ideal  of  greatness  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  that  which  had  prevailed  and  did  still  prevail, 
among  both  Jews  and  Gentiles.  Would  to  God  it 
did  not  prevail  even  now,  and  among  those  who  are 
professedly  Christian  !  With  the  Saviour,  goodness 
was  pre-eminently  greatness ;  and  he  was  esteemed 
excellent  and  chief,  who  served  much,  loved  much, 
and  least  thought  of  self  or  the  recompense  due  to 
self. 

We  should  thank  God,  with  unfeigned  gratitude 
and  humility,  that  we  are  not  wholly  without  exam- 
ple of  action  from  this  principle,  and  example  of 
greatness  of  this  stamp.  There  is,  at  least,  one  ex- 
ample of  it  which  so  stands  out  from  all  others,  that 
no  eye  which  looks  towards  it  can  fail  to  see  it  — 
the  example  of  the  man  who  was  solemnly  pronounc- 


14 


ed,  at  the  time  of  his  exit,  and  in  the  nation's  senate 
chamber,  to  be,  "  First  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and 
first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen,"  and  upon  whom 
the  perhaps  still  higher  eulogium  has  been  past, 
"  that  he  changed  mankind's  ideas  of  political  great- 
ness." What  would  his  success  in  arms,  and  his 
great  talents  as  a  statesman  have  availed  us,  at  this 
day,  without  his  moral  uprightness,  his  political  in- 
tegrity, his  fear  of  God,  his  love  of  man,  his  disposi- 
tion to  sacrifice  his  own  inclinations  and  ease  for 
others'  safety,  and  his  lofty,  unrivalled,  disinter- 
ested patriotism  ?  Still  might  he  have  been  the 
brave  and  successful  general,  the  chief  whose  behests 
all  should  hasten  to  obey,  during  his  life  time  ;  but  it 
was  because  he  had  a  mind  which  bowed  in  reve- 
rence to  the  Supreme  Power  above,  and  swerved 
not  from  truth  and  justice,  and  a  heart  large  enough 
to  embrace  his  whole  country,  and  all  its  unborn 
millions — it  was  for  this,  that  the  epithet  of  "  Father 
of  his  Country"  has  been  given  to  him,  for  a  perpet- 
ual memorial,  by  an  admiring  and  grateful  people. 
How  is  it  then,  that,  while  we  all  consent  to  do  him 
homage  as  the  brightest  star  which  shines  in  our 
hemisphere  of  past  glory,  we  are  rather  dazzled  by 
its  brilliancy  than  guided  by  its  safe  and  sure  light, 
in  the  discharge  of  those  indispensable  and  paramount 


15 


duties  which  we  owe  alike  to  ourselves,  our  fellow 
countrymen,  and  our  God  ?  Let  every  man,  both 
in  private  and  public  life,  raise  up  and  steadily  fol- 
low the  Christian  standard  of  truth  and  right,  duty 
and  benevolence,  and  the  republic  is  safe,  our  liberty 
is  safe  ;  but  let  unbelief,  irreligion,  party  spirit,  sor- 
did selfishness,  supreme  desire  of  individual  self-ag- 
grandizement, the  uncontrolled  lust  for  wealth, 
power,  display  and  luxury  —  let  these  predominate, 
and  the  faster  we  increase  in  numbers  and  wealth, 
the  wider  and  deeper  will  yawn  the  grave  of  our 
liberty,  and  the  faster  we  shall  hasten  to  take  our 
place,  upon  the  page  of  the  historian,  with  the  free 
states  which  have  flourished  for  a  season,  but  had 
not  wisdom  and  virtue  enough  to  render  their  exist- 
ence and  prosperity  permanent. 

But  I  recal  to  mind  that,  on  an  occasion  like  this, 
something  more  specific  may  be  reasonably  expected 
than  the  broad  and  general,  though  vital,  essential 
and  all  comprehending  duty  upon  which  I  have 
dwelt.  This  great  duty  is  incumbent  upon  Chris- 
tian freemen  at  all  times;  but  may  there  not  be 
some  particular  duties  demanded  by  the  circum- 
stances of  the  present  times  and  the  present  posture 
of  our  public  affairs,  and  growing  out  of,  or  at  least 
compatible  with  the  great  duty  and  principles  already 
inculcated  ? 


16 


2.  In  following  out  the  suggestion  now  made,  I 
would  next  urge  what  I  cannot  help  viewing  as  one 
of  the  most  important  of  the  political  as  well  as 
moral  duties  which  claim  our  practical  regard  at  the 
present  time,  namely,  a  firm,  unyielding,  and  even 
jealous  conservatism. 

I  have  here  ventured  to  introduce  a  term  so  recently 
come  into  common  use  among  us,  that  it  may  not 
yet  have  acquired  an  entirely  fixed  and  definite  mean- 
ing in  grave  discourse.  As  I  would  not  wilfully  offend 
any  of  the  numerous  classes  of  reformers  of  which 
the  age  and  country  may  boast,  nor  seem  to  renounce 
my  claim  to  a  philanthropy  as  enlarged,  and  a  faith 
in  the  future  as  fixed  and  ardent  as  their  own,  I  will 
define  the  signification  of  the  term  as  I  understand 
it,  and  wish  to  be  understood  in  the  use  of  it.  By 
conservatism,  I  understand  protection  from  corrup- 
tion, diminution,  injury,  and  needless  exposure  to 
danger ;  the  system,  whether  in  morals  or  politics,  or 
any  thing  else,  which  will  not  hazard  present  certain 
and  great  good  for  future  and  very  uncertain  good, 
which  may,  by  possibility,  be  greater ;  in  a  word,  a 
universal  holding  fast  of  the  good  that  is.  If  this  is 
the  correct  use  of  the  term,  it  is  not  necessarily  nor 
naturally  opposed  to  reform  and  progress,  but  to 
radicalism,  ultraism,  ill-advised  experiment,  and  need- 


17 


less  revolution — not  to  strait  forward,  but  to  retro- 
grade, circular  and  transverse  movements.     I  protest 
against   that   application  of   the  term,  in  this  free 
country,  which  holds  up  conservatives  in  the  light  of 
a  stationary  or  retrograde  party,   and  fixed  withal 
against  all  attempts  at  improvement.      There  is  no 
stationary  party  in  this  country.     There  may  possi- 
bly be  individual  men  who  hate  improvement,  merely 
because  they   cannot   tolerate    change,    even    when 
necessary.     But  these  are    not   true    conservatives. 
Let  some  other  name  be  found  or  invented  to  desig- 
nate them.     The  terms  conservative  and  conserva- 
tism,   honorably   derived,    claim  a  more    honorable 
application.     Real   reformers    are   also   faithful    and 
uncompromising  conservatives.     Innovators,  who  at- 
tempt,   but    never    accomplish   any  thing   lastingly 
beneficial  to  mankind,  belong  to  a  different  category. 
They  are  neither  conservatives  nor  reformers,  in  the 
true  signification  of  the  terms. 

I  know  it  may  be  said  that  since  those  who  are 
not  with  the  friends  of  any  particular  measure  of 
improvement  or  reform,  are  virtually  against  them,  it 
will  happen  in  the  actual  course  of  human  affairs, 
that  the  mass  of  conservatives  will  often  be  found 
arranged  with  those  who  are  stationary,  and  even 
with  those  who  are  opposed  to  progress.  This 
3 


18 


may  be ; ,  but  not  more  frequently,  I  apprehend, 
especially  in  free  countries,  than  is  required  by  the 
economy  of  Divine  Providence  in  order  that  the 
improvement  or  progress  made  shall  be  sure  and 
stable.  It  is  not  my  duty,  nor  any  one's  duty,  to 
join  in  the  ranks  and  cry  Hosannah,  with  every  com- 
pany who  are  professedly  marching  onwards  to  vic- 
tory in  a  cause  which  I  acknowledge  to  be  good  and 
holy.  Before  I  unhesitatingly  give  them  my  aid  and 
influence,  I  ought  to  have  reasonable  evidence  that 
the  weapons  of  warfare  which  they  intend  to  use  are 
not  carnal,  that  their  own  spirit,  and  especially  that 
of  their  acknowledged  leaders,  as  well  as  their  pro- 
fessed aim,  is  good,  and  that  there  is  some  wisdom 
in  their  heads  as  well  as  good  intentions  in  their 
hearts.  Hence  at  least  some  of  the  reluctance  which 
exists  on  the  part  of  men  good  and  true,  as  ever 
good  and  holy  cause  numbered  among  its  advocates, 
to  be  drilled  in  the  ranks  and  obey  orders  in  some 
of  our  organized  bodies  of  reformers.  But  in  the 
time  of  real  need,  when  something  which  is  valuable 
is  in  imminent  danger  of  being  lost,  or  when  some 
certain  good  may  be  attained  by  immediate  action, 
then  it  is  that  the  unorganized  body  of  conservatives 
will  come  forward  and  act  with  decided  and  happy 
efficiency.  It  is  to  these  men  that  the  State  must 


19 

always  look  in  times  of  great  need  and  peril,  and 
most  commonly  when  any  great  and  certain  good  is 
to  be  achieved  also ;  and  these  are  the  men  likewise, 
who  save  what  can  be  saved,  from  the  wrecks  which 
rash  and  ill-advised  experimenters  make. 

But  say  the  reformers  and  innovators,  "  there  will 
always  be  conservatism  enough  without  a  word  said 
in  its  favor.  Men  naturally  decline  into  it  and  keep 
in  it.  It  consorts  with  our  natural  love  of  ease  and 
indolence,  and  our  dislike  of  labor  and  danger.  It  is 
the  spirit  of  reform  and  progress  which  is  wanted 
now  and  always ;  and  to  which  men  are  to  be 
wrought  up  only  with  great  difficulty."  This  objec- 
tion arises  from  a  one-sided  view  of  human  nature. 
Men  are  indolent,  it  is  said,  and  naturally  love  then- 
ease,  and  so  it  is.  This  is  one  element  in  human 
nature.  But  many  men  love  activity  more  than  ease, 
and  even  danger,  so  it  be  not  insuperable.  This  is 
another  element  of  human  nature.  In  most  men 
they  predominate  alternately.  But  turmoil  and  dan- 
ger seem  to  constitute  the  very  aliment  which  keeps 
some  persons  alive.  Let  all  be  peace  and  quietness 
and  orderly  progress,  and  they  would  starve.  There 
is  also  an  implication,  false  in  fact,  in  the  alleged 
objection.  It  is  implied  that  it  always  requires  less 
activity  and  courage  to  keep  and  defend,  than  to 


20 


gain.  But  it  is  notorious  that  to  keep  and  defend, 
sometimes  requires  equal  courage  and  activity,  and 
frequently  the  more  wisdom.  Besides,  it  is  with  the 
spirit  of  professed  reform  and  reckless  innovation, 
just  as  it  is  with  political  party  spirit.  It  is  wont  to 
rage  most  where  it  is  least  needed,  least  useful  and 
most  pernicious,  that  is,  in  free  countries  during  or 
after  the  continuance  of  prosperous  times. 

It  is  when  men  wax  fat,  and  have  abundant  means 
and  abundant  leisure,  that  they  begin  to  rise  up 
against  the  ordinances  of  Heaven  and  the  peace  and 
quietness  of  earth.  They  cannot  then  rest  satisfied 
with  feasible  measures  of  good.  They  must  have 
something  better,  else  all  the  good  they  have  or  might 
have,  availeth  them  nothing.  The  righteous  discon- 
tents of  the  old  world  are  bruited  across  the  waters 
of  the  Atlantic;  and  nothing  will  do  but  echo  must 
answer  from  this  side — "  Our  condition  is  as  bad  as 
yours,  and  in  some  respects  worse."  It  is  not  con- 
sidered that  the  mass  of  the  people,  in  many  parts 
of  the  old  world,  have  little  to  lose  and  much  to  gain 
by  revolution  and  change,  wThile  the  mass  of  the  peo-r 
pie  here  have  almost  every  thing  to  lose,  and  scarcely 
any  thing  which  they  can  reasonably  hope  to  gain, 
except  by  those  gradual  and  quiet,  but  unceasing 
processes,  which  comport  with  our  liberty,  our  laws, 


21 


the  growth  of  our  country,  and  our  general  progress 
in  knowledge  and  virtue.  If  this  difference  between 
the  condition  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  country  and 
those  of  the  old  world,  and  between  their  govern- 
ments and  ours,  were  understood  and  duly  weighed, 
there  might  be  little  occasion  to  dwell  upon  the  pres- 
ent topic  of  discourse. 

But  what  would  our  political,  social,  and  many  of 
our  moral  and  religious  reformers,  or  those  professing 
to  be  such,  have,  which  both  they  and  all  have  not 
already  ?  "  Equal  distribution  of  property,  or  the 
nearest  possible  approach  to  it,  by  legislative  enact- 
ment, or  otherwise — perfect  social  equality,  come 
what  may,  I  suppose,  of  social  elevation  and  im- 
provement— no  organized  churches — no  Sabbath — 
no  clergy — no  marriages  for  life,  but  connexions  in- 
stead, to  last  as  long  as  the  parties  can  agree,  and, 
finally,  no  government  at  all."  These  are  some  of 
the  contradictory  cries  already  raised.  What  may 
we  expect  to  hear  next  ?  "  No  Bible,  no  Saviour, 
no  future  state,  down  with  antiquated  superstition, 
and  religion,  which  is  but  superstition  mis-named, 
and  up  with  the  goddess,  reason ;"  and  could  one 
dread  and  all  hallowed  name  be  reverently  pronounc- 
ed in  such  connexion,  one  more  and  final  cry  might 
be  added,  and  all  is  then  plunged  in  total  darkness 


and  exclusion  of  hope.  Is  there  no  occasion  for  a 
conservative  spirit,  and  that  the  jealousy  of  that  spirit 
should  be  roused,  in  view  of  these  political  and  moral 
eccentricities  and  enormities  ? 

"  Equal  distribution  of  property,  or  at  least  the 
nearest  practicable  approximation  to  it."  How?  The 
particular  manner  does  not  seem  to  be  agreed  upon. 
One  method  suggested  is  substantially  this  :  that  is, 
as  it  appears  to  the  dull  optics  of  a  conservative. 
Transfer,  by  law,  the  gold  in  the  coffers  of  the  rich 
defunct  into  the  light  pockets  of  the  living  spend- 
thrift, and  the  pockets  of  those  who  will  probably  be 
made  spendthrifts  by  depending  upon  state  distribu- 
tion, and  waiting  for  the  death  of  rich  men,  instead 
of  depending  upon  the  Almighty,  and  diligently 
working  with  their  own  heads  and  hands.  This 
would  be  double  injustice  ;  and,  in  its  remote  effects, 
probably  a  greater  injury  to  the  community  than  to 
the  heirs  of  the  rich.  But  I  need  not  dwell  upon 
this  project.  It  is  utterly  impracticable.  No  despot- 
ism, though  with  laws  as  numerous  and  minute  as 
the  Chinese,  and  with  officers,  spies  and  informers, 
twice  as  numerous  as  imperial  despot  ever  maintain- 
ed, could  carry  it  into  effect.  It  is  repugnant  to  hu- 
man nature.  The  project  of  a  community  of  goods 
is  far  more  feasible. 


"  No  government,"  that  is,  "  no  human  govern- 
ment. Human  governments  are  usurpations.  The 
only  real  and  legitimate  government  is  the  just  gov- 
ernment of  God."  And  is  not  every  government,  so 
far  as  it  frames  righteous  laws,  and  righteously  exe- 
cutes them,  a  government  by  divine  right  and 
ordinance,  according  to  Scripture  and  sound  philoso- 
phy also  ?  How  shall  society  as  such  be  regulated 
without  government?  Is  not  regulation,  govern- 
ment ?  Why,  in  the  absence  of  the  instincts,  which 
regulate  the  society  of  other  tribes  of  earth,  is  wis- 
dom given  to  man,  adequate  not  only  for  self-disci- 
pline but  for  the  regulation  of  society,  that  is,  for 
the  institution  of  government,  if  every  one's  wisdom 
is  to  terminate  in  his  solitary  individual  action  ?  I 
know  it  is  denied  that  man  has  this  wisdom ;  but, 
almost  in  the  same  breath,  the  greater  wisdom  is  in- 
consistently claimed  for  him  of  being  able  tg  live 
comfortably  in  society  without  government.  I  con- 
cede that  society  is  not  for  the  sake  of  furnishing 
occasion  for  the  institution  of  government ;  but  gov- 
ernment is  for  the  sake  of  benefiting  society.  Did  it 
never  occur  to  the  no-government  dreamer,  that  if 
society  were  so  far  advanced  that  it  should  no  longer 
need  to  resort  to  the  aid  of  force,  in  any  instance,  it 
would  still,  in  its  onward  and  upward  course,  need 


laws,  rules,  regulations,  and  even  mild  penalties, 
(perhaps  in  the  shape  of  forfeitures,)  that  is,  need 
government?  When  government  does  not  answer 
the  purpose  of  benefiting  society,  let  it  be  altered, 
improved,  or  changed  altogether,  but  abolish  it  per- 
manently you  cannot.  Society  is  indeed  before 
government  in  the  order  of  nature ;  but  there  is  no 
proof  that  either  did  or  can  precede  the  other  in  the 
order  of  time.  So  soon  as  society  begins,  the  whole 
people  must  make  rules  for  its  regulation,  or  the 
strongest  will  take  the  business  into  their  own  hands  ; 

O  ' 

and  arbitrary  power,  sometimes  aided,  and  sometimes 
perhaps  checked  by  traditionary  custom,  sway  the 
people,  till  the  people  institute  a  government  and 
make  laws  for  themselves.  The  strong  despot,  or 
blind,  traditionary,  and  often  tyrannical  custom,  or 
law  and  constitution,  must  rule.  We  must  make 
choice  of  one  of  these  three.  There  is  no  further 
power  of  choosing  given  to  man  in  this  present  world. 
"  No  clergy  !  "  To  this  I  will  only  say,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  a  very  ancient  book  —  "  Would  to  God  all 
the  Lord's  servants  were  prophets  !  "  Would  to  God 
the  moral,  spiritual  and  intellectual  state  of  the  world 
were  such  that  every  man  might  be  his  own  prophet, 
priest  and  ruler ;  and  nothing  more  be  needed  in  the 
premises.  Would  to  God  the  universal  heart  of  hu- 


manity  always  beat  right,  and  then  surely  nothing  on 
earth  would  go  wrong.  But  what  are  the  facts  in 
the  case,  as  we  look  along  the  channel  through  which 
the  tide  of  past  events  has  flowed,  taking  the  world 
and  things  and  mankind,  as  they  have  been  and  are  ? 
Will  any  man,  at  all  competent  to  pronounce  sen- 
tence, lay  his  hand  upon  his  heart  and  say,  that  any 
class  of  men,  in  this  country,  of  equal  numbers  only, 
have  done  more  in  promoting  universal  education,  the 
morals  and  happiness  of  the  community,  and  last, 
not  least,  the  liberty  we  so  highly  prize  and  dearly 
love,  than  these  fore-doomed  clergy,  who,  after  all, 
claim  to  be  only  ministers  ?  I  will  say  nothing,  in 
this  connexion,  of  the  effects  of  their  higher  spiritual 
functions. 

But  I  will  not  pursue  such  details.  Of  course,  I 
shall  not  be  understood  as  condemning  all,  in  con- 
demning some.  Other  classes  of  reformers  there 
are,  whose  objects  are  unspeakably  desirable,  if  they 
had  the  means  and  opportunity  to  reach  them.  God 
grant  to  such  wisdom  equal  to  their  zeal,  that  we 
may  still  hope  concerning  them,  that  they  may  be  the 
occasion,  if  not  the  cause,  of  the  good  wished  for  and 
longed  after. 

Neither  do  I  doubt  at  all,  that,  while  there  is  so 
much  of  the  spirit  of  innovation  openly  rife  and  ac- 
4 


26 


tive  in  the  community,  there  is  still  more  of  conser- 
vatism in  it,  though  much  of  the  latter  exists,  at  the 
present  time,  in  a  latent  and  inactive  state.  The 
sentiments  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  this 
union,  of  both  the  great  political  parties  into  which 
we  are  divided,  are  undoubtedly  conservative.  There 
is  an  approach  at  least  to  a  just  estimate  of  the  value 
of  our  independence  and  liberty,  our  national  and 
state  constitutions  and  laws,  and  the  perpetuity  of 
our  national  confederation  and  union.  This  may  be 
inferred  from  our  whole  history  during  and  since  the 
war  of  independence ;  and,  in  particular,  from  the 
discrimination  and  caution  with  which  the  attempts, 
whether  successful  or  unsuccessful,  to  amend  our 
constitutions,  have  been  met  and  handled.  May  we 
not  venture  to  put  down,  as  another  evidence  in  the 
case,  the  general  reprehension  of  the  mobs  and  riots, 
which  threatened  and  disgraced  us  so  much,  some 
few  years  ago,  and  their  manifest  diminution,  within 
the  last  two  years  or  more  ?.  Certainly  we  may  the 
harmlessness  with  which  the  last  prodigiously  con- 
tested election  passed  off;  and  the  peaceableness  and 
kindly  humour  which  have  since  prevailed  all  over 
the  country.  In  what  other  country,  could  such 
gatherings  and  processions  and  such  political  party 
enthusiasm  prevail  so  universally  and  so  long,  and 


27 


yet  all  end  peaceably  and  without  bloodshed  at  the 
ballot-box  ?  All  this  is  encouraging  to  the  patriot 
and  philanthropist,  and  to  all  who  are  determined 
never  to  give  up  faith,  hope  and  trust  in  man  and  in 
man's  destiny. 

Nor  have  we  the  least  reason  to  fear  that  the 
dreams  of  our  radical  innovators  can  be  permanently 
realized.  Yet  when  we  perceive  so  many  contrary 
breezes  every  where  ruffling  the  surface  of  society, 
and  sometimes  feel  the  upheaving  of  a  ground  swell, 
whose  possible  force  we  cannot  calculate  —  when  we 
see  how  many  individuals  are  deluded  and  agitated, 
their  peace  and  usefulness  utterly  destroyed,  and  how 
from  being  agitated  themselves  they  have  become 
agitators  —  when  we  consider  the  tendency  of  these 
things  to  that  temporary  anarchy,  in  which  our  lib- 
erty may  find  its  termination,  and  an  iron  despotism 
its  time  of  commencement  —  when  we  see  so  many 
organizations  here  and  there,  under  various  names 
and  pretences,  imbodying  so  much  individual  deter- 
mination not  to  be  easy  while  law  and  order,  religion 
and  morality,  have  their  course,  while  each  man  is 
protected  in  his  own  possessions  and  his  own  home, 
or  while  any  thing  which  savours  of  antiquity  or  set- 
tled and  known  rule,  has  being  or  remembrance  left 
on  earth  —  when  we  perceive  all  this,  I  would  very 


28 


seriously  ask  if  it  be  not  time  to  rouse  up  the  con- 
servative spirit  so  extensively  lodged  in  the  breasts  of 
our  citizens,  that  they  may  hold  fast,  and  teach  and 
warn  their  children  to  hold  fast,  that  which  is  good 
—  the  good  which  cost  our  fathers  so  much  time  and 
treasure,  thought  and  effort,  self  sacrifice  and  blood ; 
and  which,  in  the  aggregate,  has  proved  the  source 
of  so  much  safety  and  felicity  to  us,  their  posterity. 

3.  Permit  me,  in  approaching  to  a  conclusion,  to  urge 
briefly,  upon  the  consideration  of  all,  and  especially 
men  of  ability  and  influence,  the  duty  of  united  and 
persevering  endeavours  to  assuage  the  violence  and 
diminish  the  prevalence  of  political  party  spirit. 
Taught  by  experience,  we  may  well  apprehend  that 
the  calm  after  the  tempest,  or  between  its  gusts,  will 
prove,  in  the  political  as  in  the  natural  atmosphere,  of 
short  duration.  Yet  I  cannot  believe  in  the  neces- 
sity or  the  utility  of  parties  and  party  spirit  in  a  free 
state.  I  admit,  (such  is  human  nature,}  that  they 
will  exist,  especially  in  free  countries.  That  their 
existence  and  action  may  occasionally  effect  some 
good,  I  admit  also.  But  I  contend  that  the  same 
good,  and  more,  might  be  effected,  if  we  could  bring 
to  the  conduct  of  public  affairs  less  of  party  action 
and  more  of  the  honest  and  able  men  who  belong  to 
all  parties,  and  some  of  them  perhaps  to  no  party 


29 


except  their  country.  Whatever  we  may  read,  in 
certain  publications,  on  either  side,  the  party  has  not 
yet  arisen,  in  this  republic,  which  has  engrossed,  for 
the  time  being,  all  the  honesty,  capability  and  patri- 
otism in  it.  In  my  solemn  conviction,  the  party  has 
not  yet  existed  which  has  in  reality  possessed  much 
more  than  half  of  all  there  is  of  these  qualities  in 
the  land. 

I  contend  also  that  where  political  party  spirit  is 
wont  to  prevail  with  the  least  restraint,  precisely 
there  it  is  least  useful  and  most  pernicious,  to  wit  in 
free  states.  When  has  this  country  been  more  pros- 
perous and  happy,  or  its  public  affairs  better  managed, 
than  during  those  brief  intermissions,  in  which  a 
national  spirit  has,  for  the  time  being,  taken  the 
place  of  party  spirit ;  and  spreading  over  the  whole 
land,  like  the  return  of  the  balmy  south  western 
breeze  after  months  of  rigorous  winter,  has  brought 
hope  and  gladness  to  every  heart.  The  former  part 
of  President  Munroe's  administration  was  such  a 
season.  And  what  was  it  which  cut  short  the  happy 
time,  and  conjured  up  the  demon  of  party  spirit 
again,  to  lay  waste  and  destroy  the  peace  of  families 
and  neighborhoods,  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  country  ?  It  was,  in  the  main,  differing  pre- 
possessions, not  for  measures,  but  for  men,  with  cor- 


30 


responding  desires  and  expectations  of  lucrative 
places  under  those  who  should  be  elected  to  fill  the 
highest  offices  in  the  gift  of  the  people.  Here,  I 
suspect,  the  people,  if  they  look  diligently,  will  find 
the  origin  of  the  political  parties  which  have  so 
recently  convulsed  the  country,  whatever  may  be  the 
pretences  of  a  legitimate  descent  from  the  old  fed- 
eralists and  republicans  of  the  days  of  Washington 
and  the  elder  Adams. 

In  the  name  then  of  all  the  lovers  of  a  quiet  and 
peaceable  life,  who,  I  well  know,  have  suffered  more 
within  these  few  years,  than  I  will  tell  or  can  tell  to- 
day, I  ask  the  conflicting  political  parties,  if  they 
cannot  be  exorcised  of  the  evil  spirit  which  has  pos- 
sessed them,  to  give  us  at  least  a  respite,  a  truce, 
another  suspension  of  this  unholy  warfare  among 
brethren,  that  we  may  breathe  freely  once  more,  and 
dare  to  speak  as  we  think,  without  first  working  our- 
selves up  to  the  martyr  pitch  and  spirit.  I  ask  them, 
if  they  cannot,  (as  Christians  are  directed  to  do,) 
love  as  brethren  and  esteem  others  better  than  them- 
selves, at  least  to  remember  that  others  have  the 
feelings  of  men,  and  equal  rights  with  themselves, 
and  to  forbear  the  mutual  denunciation  and  reviling 
which  have  excited  alternately  the  astonishment  and 
the  contempt  of  inquisitive  and  disinterested  foreign- 


31 


ers.  And  when  may  we  hope,  (for  several  obvious 
reasons,)  for  a  more  favorable  time  to  bury  deep  the 
hatchet  of  party  strife,  than  the  present  time  ? 

I  am  well  aware  that  the  views  which  I  have  ex- 
hibited concerning  the  evils  and  the  comparative 
uselessness  of  parties,  in  a  free  country,  will  appear 
to  many  to  savor  more  of  the  cell  of  the  cloistered 
monk  than  the  wisdom  of  a  man  of  the  world.  I 
will,  therefore,  dismiss  the  topic  with  a  brief  support 
of  the  views  presented,  from  a  treatise,  which,  though 
it  should  be  found  wherever  there  is  a  Bible  and  an 
almanac,  I  have  reasons  for  apprehending  is  becom- 
ing somewhat  scarce  in  dwellings  otherwise  well  fur- 
nished. "  The  father  of  his  country,"  in  his  valedic- 
tory address  to  the  people,  after  stating  his  sense  of 
the  imminent  danger  of  "  parties  founded  upon  geo- 
graphical discriminations,"  proceeds  to  speak  of  "  the 
baneful  effects  of  the  spirit  of  party  generally."  He 
says,  "  It  exists  under  different  shapes  in  all  govern- 
ments, more  or  less  stifled,  controlled,  or  repressed  ; 
but  in  those  of  the  popular  form,  it  is  seen  in  its 
greatest  rankness,  and  is  truly  their  worst  enemy  "  — 
that  "  the  alternate  domination  of  one  faction  over 
another  is  itself  a  frightful  despotism  ;  but  leads 
to  a  more  formal  and  permanent  despotism  "  — and 
finally  concludes  the  topic,  as  follows  :  —  "  There  is 


32 


an  opinion  that  parties  in  free  countries  are  useful 
checks  upon  the  administration  of  the  government, 
and  serve  to  keep  alive  the  spirit  of  liberty.  This 
within  certain  limits  is  probably  true  ;  and,  in  gov- 
ernments of  a  monarchical  cast,  patriotism  may  look 
with  indulgence,  if  not  with  favor,  upon  the  spirit 
of  party.  But  in  those  of  the  popular  character,  in 
governments  purely  elective,  it  is  a  spirit  not  to  be 
encouraged.  From  their  natural  tendency,  it  is  cer- 
tain there  will  always  be  enough  of  that  spirit  for 
every  salutary  purpose  ;  and  there  being  constant 
danger  of  excess,  the  effort  ought  to  be  by  force  of 
public  opinion,  to  mitigate  and  assuage  it.  A  fire 
not  to  be  quenched,  it  demands  uniform  vigilance  to 
prevent  it  from  bursting  into  a  flame,  lest,  instead  of 
warming  it  should  consume."  Whatever  I  have  ad- 
vanced upon  this  topic  which  goes  aside  from  the 
sentiments  I  have  here  quoted,  or  reaches  beyond 
them,  that  charge  to  the  ignorance,  the  timidity,  or 
the  craft  of  the  priest,  or  to  what  you  please  ;  but 
let  the  rest  be  pondered,  as  if  Washington,  the  great 
and  good,  were  alive,  and  uttered  it  with  his  own 
mouth  this  day. 

I  will  conclude  this  protracted  discussion  in  the 
prescribed  form. 

His    Excellency   the   Governor,   His   Honor  the 


33 


Lieutenant  Governor,  the  Honorable  Council  and 
Senate,  and  the  assembled  Representatives  of  the 
people,  will  be  pleased  to  accept  the  respectful  salu- 
tations demanded  by  the  occasion. 

Your  Excellency,  still  enjoying  the  high  considera- 
tion and  receiving  the  undiminished  support  of  your 
political  friends,  will  be  followed  to  your  retirement 
by  the  respectful  regards  and  sincere  good  wishes  of 
all  good  citizens  of  all  parties ;  for  it  is  not  for  a 
moment  to  be  supposed  that  political  preferences  will 
extinguish  in  the  breast  of  any  good  and  wise  citi- 
zen a  sense  of  the  honor  which  is  due  to  private 
worth,  unblemished  reputation  in  the  private  walks 
of  life,  long  and  approved  service  on  the  bench  of 
justice  in  the  highest  court  in  the  Commonwealth, 
and,  finally,  of  the  still  higher  honor  which  is  due  to 
him,  who  has  been  called  by  his  fellow  citizens  to 
the  chair  of  state,  and  whose  name  has  been  conse- 
quently enrolled  in  its  archives  with  those  of  Han- 
cock, Bowdoin  and  Adams,  and  their  illustrious  suc- 
ce  ssors. 

With  equal  sincerity  we  may  and  should,  and  I 
trust,  do  extend  both  to  your  excellency  and  your 
designated  successor,  (who  is  also  numbered  with 
your  approved  and  honored  predecessors,)  our  res- 
pect, our  sympathy,  and  our  earnest  prayers,  that 
5 


34 


continued  happiness,  usefulness  and  honor  may  at- 
tend you  both  to  the  end  of  life,  whether  in  public 
or  in  private  stations ;  and  that  both  of  you  may  at 
last  bequeath  to  the  citizens  of  the  Commonwealth 
over  which  you  have  presided,  a  memory  which  they 
shall  long  delight  to  cherish  with  respect  and  grati- 
tude. 

Now,  gentlemen,  both  of  the  legislative  and  exe- 
cutive departments  of  the  State,  we  pray  that  God 
may  be  with  you,  and  we  bid  you  God  speed.  Serve 
your  constituents,  serve  the  Commonwealth,  serve 
our  common  country  —  serve  them  in  love  —  seek  no 
earthly  reward  for  so  doing — do  what  you  can  to 
conserve  the  union,  the  liberty,  the  constitution,  the 
prosperity  and  the  progress  of  our  country,  and  the 
ancient  civic  faith,  purity  and  glory  of  this  Com- 
monwealth, —  and  you  shall  find  and  receive  your 
recompense,  now,  at  this  present  time,  in  the 
peace  and  satisfaction  of  your  own  breasts,  and,  here- 
after in  the  higher  recompenses  which  are  to  be  be- 
stowed upon  the  good  and  faithful  servant,  whether 
he  has  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  or  over 
many  things.  —  AMEN. 


•HERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACIUTy 


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UNIVERSITY  Of  CALIFORNIA 

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